Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones has pledged financial support to help kick-start the 240MW Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project, and has called on the UK government to “stop stalling” its decisions on the project.
Jones says he is “ready and willing” to provide “further substantial investment” in the project to help it get off the ground.
Local media outlets have reported that a figure of between £100 million and £200 million have been put forward by Jones’ government to kick-start development of the £1.3 billion scheme.
Developer Tidal Lagoon Power (TLP) has already been granted a £1.25 million loan from the Welsh government but the project is largely privately financed. The main backers are Infracapital, the Gupta family, Good Energy and over 300 individual investors.
Jones says that the UK government has been “dragging its heels” over making a decision on supporting the project with a contract for difference (CFD). “This is leading to a growing sense of frustration among the Welsh business community and an increasing risk that the lack of a decision will turn into a decision not to proceed,” Jones said in a statement.
In early 2017 a review into tidal lagoon technology commissioned by the government recommended the backing of the Swansea project in order to spur the development of a new industry in the UK.
Jones also said he has written to UK Prime Minister Theresa May urging her to give the project the green light.
